


Does He Know

by Lobotomite



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Break Up, M/M, Past Infidelity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 23:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10559340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lobotomite/pseuds/Lobotomite
Summary: Aaron finds out.





	

He’s not even angry, when he hears it. Not surprised, either. His heart just gives gives forth a quiet, beaten down _“oh”_ , and honestly, that’s worse, than righteous anger, than disbelief.

Oh, the anger is going to come; he knows that. The anger and the hurt and the betrayal. He’s going to yell, probably, definitely, and Robert is going to yell back, when his sweet talking doesn’t work, and they’re both going to say some nasty things. But right now he’s seeing his relationship laid bare, this life journey he’s meant to be taking, as he watches Robert’s mouth moving, trying to talk himself out of it, sees the way his eyes are wide with panic, and he doesn’t even have to hear the words Robert’s saying to know he doesn’t believe them.

This is what he swore he wouldn’t be. His whole life he promised himself, watching Chas’s relationships implode around her, watching her being betrayed and betraying in equal measure, that he was never going to be that person. Never going to be the person sitting alone wondering if their partner was in someone else’s bed, never going to be made a fool of. Fuck, he’d told Robert that himself, told him he wouldn’t be that person, for him or anyone else.

But here he is, his husband – _his husband_ – standing in front of him, claiming innocence at the same time as he’s claiming diminished severity, and he knows in his heart that it’s Rebecca who’s telling the truth of it. She’s not been kind about it; not done him a favour. He must have messed up with her, too, because she tells him like he told Chrissie, an act of anger against Robert than any kind of concern for him, and he doesn’t even blame her. Well, he’ll be plenty angry with her, too, when he’s feeling anger again, but really, if it wasn’t her, it would be someone else, wouldn’t it. All she was was an easy target.

“We’re over,” he says quietly, cutting into Robert’s sentence, for once in their relationship completely sure of himself. “This isn’t an argument, Robert,” he adds, when Robert starts to panic, starts to beg in that way of his where he’s not actually begging. “It’s just… it’s just a fact. We’re not coming back from this.” He feels like he’s watching himself, almost. It doesn’t quite feel real, the fact that he’s stood there having to say this, that all he feels is sad in a weird muffled way like he’s feeling it through cotton wool. He even feels sorry for Robert, a little bit – he’s obviously feeling bad right now, obviously know he fucked up, probably regrets it. But that’s him, isn’t it, doing things and saving the regret for later, when everything has already happened and he’s dug himself as deep into the hole as he can go. And it never stops him doing it again, the next time.

So he just turns around and walks out, walks out of what was meant to be his home, his future, his family’s future. He turns and leaves and knows that this time he’s not coming back.


End file.
